Goldman Sachs: Stock picking isn't paying off

Choosing individual stocks won't give you much of an edge in this investing environment, according to a report by Goldman Sachs' research analysts released Tuesday.

So-called idiosyncratic risk -- how much an individual stock deviates from the performance of the overall stock market -- is at its lowest level since July 2011. And that makes it tough to find stocks that stand out from the crowd.

High idiosyncratic risk doesn't necessarily correlate with a stronger economy, though. In December 2008, the risk was more than three times its current levels. That same year the S&P 500 (SPX) ended down 38%.

The safest sectors for getting better-than-average returns in this environment are information technology and industrials, say the analysts.

Maureen Farrell is a staff writer at CNNMoney and covers Wall Street, banking, mergers and the stock and bond markets. Prior to joining CNNMoney, she covered venture capital and entrepreneurs for Forbes, and mergers and bankruptcy for Mergermarket and Debtwire, both divisions of the Financial Times.